HOUSE TALK – Why agents are not allowed answer some buyers’ questions

Is this a diverse community?
Is this area safe?
Are the schools good?

These are some typical questions a buyer may ask a REALTOR® regarding a community. Unfortunately, federal and state fair housing laws make it risky, or even illegal, for us to answer them. Why? The Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination both make Steering an illegal practice. What is Steering? It is the act of not showing buyers homes in certain communities that the agent thinks are inappropriate for the buyer due to the buyers’ race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or certain other factors.

In this video I provide several public sources of information for buyers to do their own research to determine if a community will be the right fit for them. https://www.census.gov/data.html – The US Census
http://www.njsp.org/ucr/crime-reports.shtml – NJ State Police Crime Statistics
https://www.nj.gov/education/schoolperformance/ – NJ DOE School Performance Report

Watch this 4 minute video to learn how to use these resources to find answers to your burning questions about communities you are considering to look for a home in.